Broken Taillight Leads to Cocaine, Heroin Charges

Two Connecticut men are being held in Somerset County Jail in lieu of $50,000 bail after being arrested by Warren police on Friday on cocaine and heroin charges.

Richard Pitney, 36, of Broad Brook, Conn., and Joshua Warren, 24, of Middletown, Conn., have been charged with possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, possession of heroin with intent to distribute, possession of hypodermic needles and possession of drug paraphernalia.

The two were arrested at about 1:30 p.m. Friday when a Warren patrolman saw a car on Route 78 with Connecticut license plates with a broken taillight, according to an affidavit filed Monday in the Criminal Division of Superior Court.

As he was pulling over the car, the officer saw one of the two occupants reach down, the affidavit said. When he stopped the car, the officer saw that both occupants — Pitney and Warren — were sweating profusely and had fresh injection marks on their arms, the affidavit said.

After Pitney failed field sobriety tests, the car was impounded and taken to Warren police headquarters, where Warren admitted both had taken Percocet, the affidavit said.

The Hillsborough K-9 responded and a sniff of the car indicated drugs in the trunk. After obtaining a search warrant, the police searched the trunk and found 75 wax folds of cocaine, 18 grams of rock cocaine, nine syringes and two glass smoking pipes, according to the affidavit.

Bail was set by Superior Court Judge Edward Coleman.